Designing A Calm And Serene Bedroom
Image credit: Buchanan Studio
A few years ago when maximalism was the big interior trend, I papered all the walls of our master bedroom in a heavily-patterned, floral blue wallpaper. To accompany it, I painted everything else in the room a deep blue to match. While I loved this look for a while (and I still love the wallpaper design), I quickly yearned for a much more calming space to wind down, read, sleep and get dressed in. The room gets a lot of light with two windows in it, yet the deep shade of blue sucked that beautiful morning light away. The jazzy wallpaper pattern didn’t feel soothing or resting and didn’t provide the blank canvas required when choosing what to wear for the day (all the colour and pattern of my clothes intermixed with the wallpaper and the blue, making everything clash).
Even though I still love the design of this ‘Hegemone’ wallpaper by Farrow & Ball, seen here in my current bedroom, I’m craving a more calm and serene space.
The room is now looking a little rough around the edges and requires redecorating, so this time I am going to design it so that our bedroom feels much more calming and serene. As parents to a disabled child with busy working lives, myself and my husband need a space to relax and catch our breath. To try and achieve a this look, I am going to do the following:
Interior design advice has often been to paint a bright, light-filled room white to make the most of it. Darker rooms which get no light should embrace the shadows by being painted in deeper hues, making them feel warm and cosy. I’m therefore going to strip the wallpaper and get rid of the deep blue and paint the entire room in a neutral shade. I’m avoiding a 'brilliant white’ colourway, as I feel that would be too blinding in a bedroom. Instead, I am looking to some of the warmer, ‘new-neural’ shades with grey, brown or pink undertones. By having these tones as a pigment base, the neutral shades have a pleasant, soothing feel. I’m avoiding whites with blue, yellow or green undertones, as these colours can be on the colder side.
Bedroom painted in ‘Slaked Lime’ by Little Greene. Image credit: Christina Wilson
A neutral bedroom with a grey-based tinge by @banda.property shot by @shoganphoto.
A soft, warm white graces the walls of Eyeswoon’s bedroom.
One of the reasons that I wallpapered the room with a pattern was that I felt the walls looked bland just painted one block colour. Previous incarnations of this bedroom have been magnolia (the colour we inherited), grey (probably the most successful of previous paint colours) and peachy-pink (made the room feel cold). Yet, whatever colour it was painted, the room just felt bare. This time, I am going to add thick, heavy wall panels separated by a dado strip to make the walls feel more visually stimulating, as well as evoke that feeling of an expensive Parisian hotel. Neutral tones work particularly well with wall panelling and nothing says ‘relaxing weekend away’ more than a romantic hotel room in Paris.
Image via Deco Home DE.
The Marktgasse Hotel, Zurich
A luxury hotel feel can also be created by making sure that your bed linen, mattress and duvet cover is as good quality and as sumptuous as your budget allows. A super-soft mattress topper is a great way to bring life back to an older mattress; while fresh, breathable cotton sheets will give you the best night’s sleep possible.
Image credit: House Of Bliss
Image credit: Erin Kestenbaum
Emily Henderson’s Portland Project
There really is nothing more soothing or calming than being surrounded by nature, so bringing it into the bedroom will contribute to an overall tranquil effect. A sprig of foliage in water on the bedside table or a simple houseplant works. I’d avoid multiple pots and plants which looks cluttered and overly boho in style. Instead, one large tree in a corner in a pretty planter creates a more soothing atmosphere. Keep your bed sheets white to really offset the green.
A bedroom created by Workstead. Photography Jeff Holt via AD.
If houseplants are not your thing, you do not necessarily have to bring anything ‘in’ to the room, you can simply draw the eye to the outside with a clever paint trick. I live by Epping Forest, so I am going to ‘frame’ the trees outside by painting my window frames black. By doing this, the windows and the trees become a piece of art within the room, as the black frame defines all the natural green.
Emily Henderson for Target. Image via LONNY.
Lighting is one of the most important components when designing a bedroom and should be considered at the start of the project. A bedroom is a multi-functional room, so will require a variety of lighting options. If you dress in your bedroom you will need a strong ceiling light in order to be able to see into your wardrobes and piece together your outfit. If you apply make-up at a dresser then you’ll need a task light in this area of the room. If you read in bed before you sleep then you’ll need to consider the placement of your reading light, as well as adding soft, atmospheric lighting as a whole throughout.
Design by Hassell Studio
Wall lights or bedside lamps are perfect ether side of the bed as they act as both task and atmospheric lighting. Wall lights tend to be the better option as they avoid clutter on the bedside table. If you do not have an electrical wall fitting, many wall lights now come with the option of being a plug-in.
If you do not dress in your bedroom and you have overly low ceilings, avoid the installation of harsh spot lighting and instead use a combination of floor and wall lamps for that soft, night-time glow.
The attic room in Soho House Group owned Mollie’s Motel & Diner omits harsh ceiling lighting for softly-lit bedside and floor lamps.
The key to creating a calm and serene space is to avoid clutter, which feels chaotic and draining within a room. You want to remove any opportunity for a build up of items, so it is important that you work out what needs to be stored in the room and where it can be placed out of view. Make sure that the most is made out of the space you have with wall-to-wall fitted wardrobes rather than ill-fitting, free-standing ones. When adding in a bed, make sure that you buy one which comes with under bed storage. Choose bedside tables with drawers rather than simple table-tops.
Image credit: A.S.Helsingö
In our current bedroom I have a a very thin dressing table that can store hardly anything, with large overflowing boxes containing clean bedding placed underneath it. It does not work at all - it looks really messy and is anything but calming! When I redecorate, I am going to swap out the dresser for some built-in storage that will house the bedsheets as well as my make-up, perfume and hairdryer.
It’s often said that the secret to creating a warm, homely space is through layering the room with different items. For an inviting bedroom, use a variety of soft furnishings and textiles on the bed so that it calls you into it. As well as your pillows, decorate the bed with cushions and bolster pillows, plus cover the end of the bed with a spread or a counterplane.
I particularly love this bed below which belongs to Interior Stylist Jen from The Squiffy Mill. I’m really drawn to earthy reds and burgundy colours at the moment, so will probably copy her beautiful bed look once the new bedroom is complete!
Image credit: The Squiffy Mill
